Hebrew word · H2197

זַ֫עַף

za'af

rage

Za'af means storming rage or vexation. Its related verb is used of a raging sea (Jonah 1:15), of a sullen, angry face (Genesis 40:6), and of a king's fury (Proverbs 19:12). Af means nose or nostrils, and by a fixed figure of speech, anger: the flared, snorting face.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

rage, raging, storming, indignation

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 30:30

Range of meaning

Za'af means storming rage or vexation. Its related verb is used of a raging sea (Jonah 1:15), of a sullen, angry face (Genesis 40:6), and of a king's fury (Proverbs 19:12). Af means nose or nostrils, and by a fixed figure of speech, anger: the flared, snorting face.

Against the English

KJV has 'indignation of his anger' and BSB 'angry wrath'. Both are accurate. What English loses is the bodily, stormy picture of breath snorting from the nostrils (compare Psalm 18:8, 15, where smoke and 'the blast of the breath of your nostrils' go with storm and lightning).

Used elsewhere in the period

Psalm 18:7–15 combines the same pieces: nostrils, fire, thunder, hail and arrows of lightning. It is the clearest parallel to this verse and shows that this was a standard way of describing God coming as a warrior.

From the study of Proverbs 19:12

Range of meaning

Rage, stormy fury, raging. The verb covers being in a rage (2 Chronicles 26:19) and also being troubled, sullen or out of sorts (Genesis 40:6; 1 Kings 20:43; 21:4). The picture is turbulence, like a storm or a heaving sea.

Against the English

English versions say 'wrath' (KJV, WEB) or 'rage' (BSB, NIV). 'Rage' is closer to the stormy, churning sense. 'Wrath' can sound formal or judicial to modern ears.

Used elsewhere in the period

Jonah 1:15: the sea 'ceased from its raging.' 2 Chronicles 16:10: King Asa, 'in a rage' at the seer Hanani, put him in the stocks. 2 Chronicles 26:19: Uzziah 'raged' at the priests. Several of the uses are set at court, where a ruler's mood decided people's fate: Genesis 40:6 (Pharaoh's troubled officials) and 1 Kings 21:4 (Ahab sullen and raging).

From the study of Micah 7:9

Range of meaning

A strong, agitated, stormy anger or rage. The related verb zāʿap can mean "to rage" (2 Chr 26:19, Uzziah raging at the priests) but also "to be troubled, downcast" (Gen 40:6, the troubled faces of Pharaoh's officials). The underlying picture is turbulence: the noun describes the raging of the storm-tossed sea in Jonah 1:15.

Against the English

KJV/ESV/NASB/WEB: "indignation"; BSB: "rage"; NIV: "wrath"; NLT turns it into the LORD "punishing" me. In 1611 "indignation" was a strong word. Today it usually means mild offence at unfairness, which is far weaker than the Hebrew.

How it drifted

"Indignation" has softened in modern English ("righteous indignation," "an indignant letter"). Meanwhile "wrath of God" has been heard mainly as eternal condemnation. Neither fits a storm of covenant anger that runs for a limited time and then passes.

Used elsewhere in the period

Only a handful of uses: 2 Chr 16:10 and 28:9 (rage of a king or of Israel against Judah), Isa 30:30 (YHWH's thunderous "raging of anger" against Assyria), Prov 19:12 (a king's rage like a lion's roar), Jonah 1:15 (the sea's raging stops once Jonah is thrown in). In Jonah the raging stops once its cause is dealt with, which is the same pattern as here: the raging lasts "until."

Where it appears

2 Chronicles · 2

  1. 2 Chronicles 16:10 בְזַ֥עַף in a rage

    Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.

    Here: 'In a raging.' The word for a storming fury, used elsewhere of a stormy sea (Jonah 1:15) and of a king's roaring wrath (Prov 19:12). It is stronger than the opening verb: vexation has turned into a storm.

  2. 2 Chronicles 28:9 בְזַ֔עַף in a rage

    But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. “Look,” he said to them, “because of His wrath against Judah, the LORD, the God of your fathers, has delivered them into your hand. But you have slaughtered them in a rage that reaches up to heaven.

    Here: A storming, raging fury (the same root is used of a raging sea). This was the army's own rage, set against God's measured anger earlier in the verse.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 19:12 זַ֣עַף [the] rage of

    A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

    Here: A boiling, stormy anger. The same root describes a raging sea (Jonah 1:15) and kings in a fury who punished those who displeased them (2 Chronicles 16:10; 26:19).

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 30:30 בְּזַ֣עַף with rage of

    And the LORD will cause His majestic voice to be heard and His mighty arm to be revealed, striking in angry wrath with a flame of consuming fire, and with cloudburst, storm, and hailstones.

    Here: A word for seething, stormy rage. The same root is used of a sea in tempest (Jonah 1:15), so it already fits the storm imagery.

Jonah · 1

  1. Jonah 1:15 מִזַּעְפּֽוֹ׃ from storming its

    Then they picked up Jonah and cast him into the sea, and the raging sea grew calm.

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 7:9 זַ֤עַף [the] indignation of

    Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.

    Here: A stormy, seething anger. The word can describe the raging of the sea (Jonah 1:15). It stands first in the Hebrew sentence for emphasis: "The raging of the LORD—that is what I will bear."

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.